rally in fairfax in two weeks, with election day approaching and the polls tightening, mr. obama coined a new word, to spotlight what he says are mitt romney's shifting positions on key issues. >> we've got to name this condition that he's going through. i think -- i think it's called romneshia. >> reporter: the president then applied romneshia to a list of hot-button topics most focused on women. >> if you're saying you're for equal pay for equal work but you refuse to say you would sign a bill for equal pay for equal work, you might have romneshia. if you come down with a case of romneeshia, here's the good news, obama care covers preexisting conditions. we've got a cure. we can make you well, virginia. >> reporter: supporters were fired up. >> i loved the fact that he talked about education. i love the fact that he believes in equal pay for women and men.

i love the fact that he wants to move forward. >> reporter: the romney campaign had its own choice words calling the president's speech a comedy routine in intended to divert attention from the economy. >> when you have no record to run on, you try and distract, divert and to attack the other side. that's clearly what his campaign has done all summer. and now through the fall, you see that again. >> reporter: even as the president rallied at george mason, a new poll said mitt romney gaining ground in virginia, getting 50% in the survey taken right after the last presidential debate. democratic congressman jerry connelly said he's not worried. >> we've got a great ground game. the enthusiasm as you saw here today is very high. it's going to be a nail-biter, but i think we're prepared to win this state. mitt romney and his running mate, paul ryan, will appear together tonight at a bike rally down in daytona beach, florida. earlier today ryan toured a technology lab in south florida in tampa. later he met with small business

owners and students for a round table discussion on challenges facing business owners today. ryan talked about what he learned from his former mentor, the late congressman jack kemp. >> when you tax something more, you get less of it. when you tax something less, you get more of it. if you tax capital, labor, families, and small businesses less, you get more capital. you get more labor. you get more take-home pay. you get more small business development. >> an indication of the intensity of the pace in these final few weeks. congressman ryan's plane and vice president biden's plane were parked nearly wing to wing today on a taxiway in florida. to our weather right now. parts of our area are seeing very heavy rain. storm tm 4 chief meteorologist doug kammerer has the scoop. >> that's really a great shot right there. you can see the sun coming through and underneath some of those clouds. we are dealing with some very heavy rain, some lightning and also some small hail, too.

a lot of people saying they're looking at rain bows out there. it is getting a little on the pretty side. where it's not pretty, right along 95, columbia pike, savage, maryland, towards laurel, very heavy rain in and around this area. and down towards college park seeing that rain continuing. back to the west just to the north of olney, seeing that rain. montgomery county. we'll zoom in to northeast d.c., you can see just to the east of 16 here, right along route 50 as you're heading to the beltway and around college park and green belt, some of that very heavy rain. down to the south, another area of rain has developed right along the potomac river through woodbridge and quantico, and just to the north of nangemoy. if you're going to be out, say, right around i-95 or east in the next one or two hours, take the umbrella with you just in case. thanks, doug. a driver faces charges for

her role in a horrible crash that killed a prince george's county police officer today. today we learned the officer was not wearing a seat belt. there was an outpouring of grief for that officer's family. jackie bensen is at the district 4 police station in oxen hill, where officer kefen bowden was assigned. jackie? >> reporter: doreen, the man who served as officer bowden's training officer gave him the ultimate compliment a cop can give, he said he was the real police. intensely proud of the community where he was born and raised is how friends and colleagues describe officer kevin bowden. >> it's terrible to watch an officer that you have an attachment with, that you know his mom, his dad, his children, the people that you work with, it affects you. >> the type of person he was, i just -- he was great. he was beyond great. >> reporter: crash investigators and witness accounts indicate the driver of the white suv was

in the left turn lane when for an unknown reason she suddenly decided to cross several lanes of traffic, colliding with officer bowden's police cruiser at the intersection of branch avenue and surratts road. it sent the cruiser into a light pole. the result was catastrophic and fatal to 28-year-old officer kevin bowden, the father of two young children. the suv driver received less serious injuries and remains hospitalized. >> we've been in touch also with the state's attorney and have briefed miss alsobrooks on the facts as we know them right now. this investigation will be completed, and be turned over to the state's attorney for pending charges. >> reporter: a somber chief mark magaw revealed the preliminary investigation shows the police cruiser was traveling above the posted limit. and officer bowden was not wearing a seat belt. >> this is an issue that is faced by law enforcement across the country. so it's just not here.

but we've paid the price here twice in the last two months. >> reporter: in august, prince george's county police officer adrian morris died after being ejected from his cruiser during a pursuit. he was not wearing a seat belt. funeral arrangements for officer bowden have not yet been finalized. reporting live in austin hills, jackie bensen, news4. jury dlibs are under way in the trial of two police officers accused of beating a former university of maryland student. prince george's county officers reginald baker and james harrison are accused of using unnecessary force against john mckenna in 2010. deliberations continue on monday if no verdict is reached tonight. one of the deadliest killing sprees in d.c. history, nathaniel sims was sentenced to 25 years in jail. sims admitted to firing into a crowd of mourners at a funeral in march of 2010.

it is one of several days of violence that ended with five people dead, eight others injured. the violence was sparked by a fake gold bracelet that was thought to have been stolen. prosecutors asked for the 25-year sentence because sims cooperated in convicting others involved in those massacres. for the fifth time in five weeks, drug authorities at dulles airport have seized cocaine hidden in items being couriered to washington. last night customs officers found several pounds of to cane concealed in five belt-like items, as in four previous incidents a guatemalan courier was involved. a stolen car spotted on 495 led to a dramatic police chase through southeast d.c. today. tisha thompson was right in the middle of the action. here's what she saw unfolding on neighborhood streets. >> reporter: the silver crown victoria flew by us on wheeler

avenue with at least 20 police cars in pursuit. >> today, at approximately 11:30, this morning, there was a vehicle traveling southbound on the baltimore washington parkway in the area of 410. we checked and confirmed it to be a stolen vehicle. >> reporter: over and over again the suspect ccled through the residential neighborhood along alabama avenue between wheeler and 15th street. police sources tell news4 onlookers actually jumped out into the street between the suspect's vehicle and the police cars, while others appeared to be cheering on the suspect. we saw him again when he came down 13th street onto savannah. before he finally crashed at south capitol and mississippi avenue, when he slammed into this black honda driven by a man in a domino's pizza uniform. witnesses say he hit the honda so hard it popped the black car into the air. >> i came out and he got out of the car and started running.

>> he got out of the car and started running. they caught him, though. >> reporter: witnesses say they saw a police dog take down the suspect about a half a block away. obviously hurt, but defiant, he was bundled into a used parked police cruiser and hauled off to jail. u.s. park police just identified who the driver is. 22-year-old ronald blake from maryland, near dwy airport. he's been charged with assaulting a police officer, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and reckless driving. tisha thompson, news4. on the jobs front, the unemployment rate here in the nation's capitol continues to decline. d.c. officials say the rate was 8.7% in september. that's down from 8.8% a month before. that is the seventh straight month that unemployment has gone down in the city. but it's still nearly a point higher than the national unemployment rate, which stands at 7.8% in september. at the same time americans

bought fewer homes in september, after hitting a two-year high in august. the sales of existing homes were down 1.7% nationwide last month. that's according to the national association of realtors. despite the dip, sales are up 11% compared to a year ago. economists say it's evidence that the housing market is recovering slowly. coming up on news4 at # clock, mayhem at the mall. the serious charges this man is facing after allegedly throwing a molotov cocktail into a mall food court. how the government wants you to help stop the illegal robocalls. a larger than life iconic figures at one of the country's biggest state fairs goes up in flames. a possible mystery on mars. what the rover found that has scientists looking for answers.

take away his toys and he'll play with a stick. take away their bikes and they'll still find a way to get where they're going. but if take you away early childhood education... slash k-12 funding... and cut college aid for middle class families ... they won't go far. yet that's exactly what mitt romney wants to do... ...to pay for a $250,000 tax break for multi-millionaires. if mitt romney wins, the middle class loses. priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. under the president's policies, middle income americans have been buried.

they're just being crushed. middle-income americans have seen their income come down by $4,300. this is a tax in and of itself. i'll call it the economy tax. i'm not going to raise taxes on anyone. my plan is to bring down rates to get more people working. my priority is putting people back to work in america. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

video online seems to show syrian government air strikes wrecking a neighborhood in damascus. it happened yesterday. the video shows a jet flying overhead followed by an explosion on the ground. it shifts to a chaotic scene as a child is rushed to a waiting taxi. the envoy to syria has just arrived in damascus. they'll be there to push for a cease-fire over a muslim holiday next week. that envoy is warning that syria's civil war could destabilize that entire region. a massive bomb exploded in beirut today, stoking concerns about how the syrian conflict is affecting lebanon. a top lebanese security official had recently moved his family to paris after receiving numerous death threats. it's not clear who is responsible for the bombing.

assad has been an influential political force in lebanon. the captain of the ship that capsized off the coast of italy is waiting to see if he will have to stand trial. pretrial hearings in the case of the ship called the costa concordia wrapped up today. the captain's name is francesco ta tino. he refused to accept sole blame for the shipwreck. he's accused of causing the death of 32 people and of abandoning ship. he says he actually saved lives by steering the ship into shallow water. if the case goes to trial, that trial would not begin until january. new developments tonight in the trayvon martin murder trial. george zimmerman's lawyers are asking that martin's school records and social media posts be released, nbc's jay gray has reaction from martin's family in florida. >> reporter: now an accused killer, george zimmerman has been in hiding since bonding out of a florida jail.

but he was back in court today as his controversial case remains in the public spotlight. >> it's what happened on february 26th that is relevant. >> reporter: that's the night 17-year-old trayvon martin was gunned down in this gated community. zimmerman said it was self-defense, martin's parents and the state of florida say it was murder. in the hearing today, the judge agreed to a defense team request for access to the teenager's school and cell phone records as well as social media postings of martin and an unnamed witness he was talking with in the minutes before his death. the state had argued the records and postings should not be part of the case. his parents say it's just a ploy to turn the tables on their son. >> i feel that trayvon's school records are not relevant in this case. >> he was just a kid. up against a grown adult. >> our first priority shouldn't be to assassinate the character of the victims, and make dead

children seem as though they're the perpetrator. >> reporter: but the defense argued in their opinion, martin was the person who prompted the attack. >> it's the strong contention he was attacked by trayvon martin, had his nose broken and smashed and his head smashed on the ground several times. >> i disagree with his assessment. >> reporter: the issue at the center of this high-profile case, the complete arguments likely to come this spring during a stand-your-ground self-defense hearing. jay gray, nbc news. rescuers in peru are looking for survivors among the rubble of a deadly land slide there. it happened on wednesday in a village north of lima. about a dozen homes were swept away, at least 11 people were killed. five children are among the dead. ten people are still missing. police believe some of them may have fled to higher ground when the land slide hit. the land slide was triggered by

heavy rains over the past few weeks there. a mess. and people in our area are getting some heavy rains. >> yeah. that's the thing, it's not hitting everyone in the viewing area. right in the d.c. metro area, these storms developed during the afternoon. we talked about a few showers developing today. but these were more than just a few showers. they were very heavy rain bands moving through. a great shot -- actually, you know what, it was better five minutes ago when i looked at it. we're getting the showers moving back in, towards national harbor. a minute ago you could see the sun through this picture. but now the rain will be back in again toward alexandria, national harbor, prince george's county, along the woodrow wilson bridge. you see what i'm talking about here. the rain moving back in. we'll show it to you in the radar. rainbow, right in here, through the d.c. area. i've gotten a lot of different pictures of rainbows across the region. a lot of different pictures of the rain, too.

keep those coming on my facebook and twitter pages. i want to thank you for sending those in. i want to show you where this rain is. once again, i-95, right along i-95. it's going to continue to move on up here. this is the last one, though. these are moving from south to the north. they'll continue to do so. they've been lining up, like a little bit of a train along i-95 here. this is the last storm we're going to be seeing. shower activity in through prince george's county, down towards college park, just now seeing that rain move out of your area after heavy downpours around college park. still seeing the rain down towards hyattsville is, coming in through the district. down around the nats stadium. look at what's happening in alexandria. they is what's going on around national harbor. very heavy rain right now along 395, 495, around springfield. and right down through i-95 down towards the woodbridge area.

across the river into prince george's county and charles county, too. heavy rain that will continue to move on up. let's time this here. oxen hill, seeing light showers right now. the heavier rain coming in in the next couple of minutes for you. you're going to see heavy rain here. i want to show you just how interesting this is. nothing, nothing, nothing, and then, boom, this entire line of storms developing along the i-95 corridor and through portions of pennsylvania. to the west, nothing but sunshine. to the south and east through st. mary's county, calvert county, lots of sunshine there, too. but that's all moving out. it's all because of this storm system back to the west. and notice what's moving our way. see these clouds coming our way? we also have some showers coming our way. i don't think we're going to see the showers, but i do expect to see the clouds during the day tomorrow. tomorrow, not bad for a saturday. but sunday is looking a lot better. partly cloudy, nice and mild. storms continuing along i-95 in

the next hour or two. if you're heading out tonight along the i-95 corridor, you want to make sure to take the umbrella with you. tomorrow morning we wake up to dry conditions. but still going to feel a little bit darmp out there. tomorrow afternoon, becoming mostly cloudy. cooler, and jacket weather. yeah, tomorrow we're going to see a little sunshine. but i think more clouds than sun. temperatures 64 to about 68 degrees. that storm system bringing the clouds, moves out of here, and sunday looking gorgeous with a high of 67. plenty of sunshine. and then we see a nice little warm-up coming up. a little indian summer maybe. 74 on monday. 75 on tuesday. 75 on wednesday. temperatures on thursday, still in the mid-70s. so we're in for a really nice stretch of weather. even tomorrow is going to be great. but out of the weekend, i would pick sunday if you're going to get out and e'veot hundreds of coming up for the best buddies

biking, walking, running tomorrow. we better dress in layers. >> about 8:00, 9:00, 54, 55 degrees. we're not talking frigid. i know it was cold last year. this year it will be a little warmer for that. are you riding? >> i'm walking. >> how early? really early. 7:00. i'm starting at 6:00 a.m. before sunrise for me. still ahead on news4 at 6:00, a standstill on the beltway. the morning rush tied up for hours. why are there so many crashes on this part of the interloop. it may look i'm at an outdoor cafe, but i'm actually inside of a building. this is a technical company that's not only hiring a number of employees, but it's located right here in prince george's county. more on that coming up on news4. coming up in sports, the terps are riding high into their homecoming weekend. the cardinals continue to wreak havoc in the postseason. plus, the redskins have the

super bowl champs' number last season, but what does it mean for this year's matchup. as governor, i cut five billion dollars in spending and balanced the budget every year. and tim kaine and i both cut our own pay as governors, to lead by example. mark warner and i reached across party lines to get things done. we were a great team in richmond and we'll be a great team in washington. i'm tim kaine and i approve this message ...because we'll work together to restore fiscal responsibility, grow our economy and create jobs. [ male announcer ] tim kaine. bringing people together to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] combine the pnc cashbuilder

visa credit card with a qualifying pnc performance select checking account and earn 75% more than cards earning 1% cash back on almost everything. earning 1% cash back president obama: i'm barack obamthis message.ve... anncr: victims. dependent. that's what mitt romney called forty-seven percent... of americans. including people on medicare. but what about his plan for you? romney would replace guaranteed benefits with a voucher system. seniors could pay six thousand dollars more a year. a plan aarp says would undermine medicare. you're no victim...you earned your benefits. don't let mitt romney take them away. imillion dollars for maryland one hundred schools.ty... question seven will double it. rushern baker: question seven will add table games and... a new casino, generating millions of dollars... every year, without raising taxes. leggett: and audits will ensure the money goes... where it's supposed to. more jobs, and millions for schools.

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stop and stuck on the beltway for hours. it was a rough ride for thousands of people after two tractor-trailers jackknifed, closing the interloop near old georgetown road. as adam tuss found out, the part of the beltway where it all happened has quite a reputation. >> reporter: judging by the afternoon ride, you wouldn't even have known something major happened here just hours earlier. but the morning commute was a mess after the accident. the interloop near old georgetown road closed for hours, drivers stuck, frustrated, nowhere to go. some simply turned off the car and took a nap. a closer look during the day reveals what many drivers already know, this isn't a fun place to drive.

>> navigating the beltway at any stretch is a tough thing to do. but especially here on the northwestern section as it snakes and meanders around trees, in through neighborhoods. you have to be especially careful behind the wheel. you have to pay extra close attention. >> some of those turns are a little sharp. but i mean, what can they really do to fix it. >> it's scary, it's 55 miles an hour but people go 70, so you go with traffic and all of a sudden you slam up to someone going 55. >> reporter: lon anderson calls this section of the beltway the rockville roller coaster. >> it's old, it's narrow, and unfortunately has very sharp turns. and it runs from the i-270 split all the way over past the mormon temple near georgia avenue. and that area is notorious. >> reporter: a facelift, not on the drawing board right now. until then, it's white knuckle drive and bear it. >> it's twists and turns, but it bothers me when people are flying around it.

>> reporter: the exact cause of the accident still not released. the maryland state highway administration says over 200,000 cars a day use this stretch of the beltway. adam tuss, news4. a 22-year-old maryland man is facing a long list of charges, including assaulting a police officer after leading police on a chase through southeast d.c. police say they started charging ronel blake because the car he was driving had been reported stolen. he was arrested after a crash on south capitol and mississippi avenue. the 61-year-old driver facing charges in a crash that killed a police officer. the woman crossed several lanes of traffic then collided with officer kevin bowden's cruiser. and pushed it into a light pole. police say the officer was not wearing a seat belt. the third and final presidential debate is coming up monday night in florida. mitt romney will be there tonight for a campaign rally with running mate paul ryan.

president obama spent today in fairfax criticizing governor romney for his changing positions. something the president called romneshia. the man who tried to set off a molotov cocktail in a mall has been charged with arson. his name is leon trail. he's 29 years old. he was in court today. derrick ward has new details about trail and the device he's been accused of using. >> reporter: today in federal court in alexandria, 29-year-old leon trail stood silent, flanked by a pair of u.s. marshals. even when asked by a judge repeatedly if he understood the charges against him, or if he had an attorney. each query was met with a blank gaze and silence from the accused. he has a background in computer engineering and several consultant jobs as well as study at the georgia institute of technology. trail is charged with a single count of arson. he's the man who dropped a crude incendiary device from the upper level of the ballston common

mall. >> on the second floor, running around. >> reporter: nine minutes after noon, he dropped his device, even after it took a while for people to comprehend what was happening. >> he throwed it, it made a sound. a lot of people smelled gas. a lot of people started running. >> reporter: we're also learning more about the device trail used. it's described as a 40-ounce brown glass bottle filled with something witnesses say smelled like gasoline and plugged with several wooden matches. court documents say the liquid did indeed ignite but was extinguished before damage could be done. they found similar devices trail had left near the scene. he was arrested about three hours later as a he sat near the courthouse metro station. someone matched him to a description that had gone out shortly after the incident. they also said he smelled of gasoline. a bomb technician carefully went through trail's belongings.

business as usual here at the food court. probably the most dangerous thing there now is, some of the stuff on the menu. meanwhile, the suspect is due back in federal court on monday. at ballston mall, derrick ward, news4. the federal trade commission is looking for new ideas to stop the robocalls. they're offering a lot of money for the best one. robocalls are prerecorded and often deceptive telemarketing calls and are illegal. the ftc is offering $50,000 to whoever creates the best technology to block them. >> over the past few years, they've made it extremely cheap and easy for people who don't want to follow the law at all. it's going to take bringing kind of unlikely suspects to the table. >> the ftc will start accepting ideas online next thursday. the contest ends in january. prince george's county once

had a hard time attracting high-tech firms but now it's home to one of the fastest growing companies in the d.c. area. they've hired hundreds of new employees. tracee wilkins looks at the thriving office in a space that's anything but average. >> the concept here is, we've taken 100,000 square foot warehouse and built a town inside it. >> reporter: vocus provides an unusual work environment. >> as you go by the barbershop here, this is actually a conference room. >> reporter: it also has a candy store, a coffee shop, and a main hallway better known as main street. that's where you'll find the community college. >> this is where we do a lot of our training. >> reporter: but the look of this marketing software firm isn't the only unusual thing. in a sluggish economy, this public company had 15% growth this year and $170 million in revenue. and it's in prince george's. the county trailing surrounding

counties in high-tech firms. according to a 2009 report from the maryland department of planning, montgomery county has 4,400 high-tech firms. baltimore, 1,700. howard county, 1,600. and prince george's an estimated 1,400. >> it's become a really good location. >> reporter: vocus has called this home since 1992 and moved into this warehouse in beltsville last year. >> the reason we started here was, it was halfway between where we both lived. that's what brought us here. but what's kept us here is it's really a great area, provides to attract a lot of employees. >> reporter: there are 700 employees in this building. 100 of them live in prince george's. the median income $70,000. rick rudman says fewer high-tech jobs in the county is actually good for him. >> because if we get too many other big high-tech companies, we have to compete with them for

employees. so for us, it's kind of nice right now being one of the largest, fastest growing tech companies in this area. >> reporter: the ceo says that the plans for this year was to hire 500 new employees, 400 of those folks have already been brought in. they're looking at an additional 200 next year. in beltsville, tracee wilkins, news4. coming up tonight, a big fire that destroyed a state fair staple. it was celebrating a big birthday there. the mystery on mars just discovered by the curiosity rover. we've got rain out there all across the i-95 corridor and around the beltway down through portions of prince george's county, along the potomac. the rain continuing. i'll show you when it moves out and what's in store for your weekend in just a minute.

take a look at this video. a store clerk in maine making a

run for her life on monday. the clerk flipped over a partition as she runs away. right behind her is a masked gunman in hot pursuit. the woman did escape without injuries. police aren't sure if the gunman planned to rob the store or commit some other crime. some shiny flecks on mars has the attention of nasa. the bright particles were found in the red sandy soil by the curiosity rover this week. they are only one millimeter in diameter. at first, scientists thought the flecks might have fallen off the spacecraft. now they know the material is native to mars. scientists will use rover's camera and instruments to try to figure out more about those flecks. >> kind of a sad scene in dallas, texas. the 52-foot-tall steel frame is all that's left of big tex. a fire engulfed the statue this morning. the iconic cowboy has welcomed visitors to the annual state fair for nearly 60 years.

firefighters say the fire broke out because of some kind of electrical issue. fair officials say they will rebuild big tex in time for next year's fair. sad looking. >> it is right now. but it will be back. who's up? >> big weekend on the local sports team. we're going to get you ready coming up in sports. the redskins face a giant task in new york on sunday. the terps looking for a win on homecoming against nc state. the cardinals barely made it into the play-offs, as we are all aware. but they're now just one win away from the world series as news4 at 6:00 continues. president obama: i'm barack obama and i approve... this message. anncr: victims. dependent. that's what mitt romney called forty-seven percent...

of americans. including people on medicare. but what about his plan for you? romney would replace guaranteed benefits with a voucher system. seniors could pay six thousand dollars more a year. a plan aarp says would undermine medicare. you're no victim...you earned your benefits. don't let mitt romney take them away. marywe invest in them.umber one in america because but we can do even more. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million

dollars at casinos in other states. question 7 keeps that maryland money in maryland through expansion of gaming in maryland. it will mean hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools. as governor, i can promise you, that money will go to education. that's the law and that's what we'll do. vote for question seven. and balanced the budget every year. and tim kaine and i both cut our own pay as governors,

to leaby example. mark warner and i reached across party lines to get things done. we were a great team in richmond and we'll be a great team in washington. i'm tim kaine and i approve this message ...because we'll work together to restore fiscal responsibility, grow our economy and create jobs. [ male announcer ] tim kaine. bringing people together to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. you're watching rain coming down in parts of the area. really? just inside the beltway, that's pretty much where the rain is right now. southern maryland, you've been dry today. out to the west in portions of northern virginia, loudoun county, you've been try. panhandle of west virginia, frederick, virginia, all seeing a beautiful evening. but the rain coming right along

the i-95 corridor, the district, down towards arlington county, fairfax and prince george's, all seeing that rain. oxen hill is where some of the heaviest rain is right now, and georgetown seeing some of that rain, bethesda, chevy chase, and college park all seeing heavy rain right now. along route 1 here, we'll continue to see that rain moving through this area for about the next half hour to 45 minutes. so if you're making your way out and about this evening, make sure you take the umbrella. downtown is where some of the heavier rain is continuing to fall. as we move into arlington county, fairfax county, mount vernon, across the river to national harbor, oxen hill and clinton, seeing the heavy rain there, too. this is going to be continuing right on through the next half hour to an hour. but then that's about it. we'll be able to calm down just a little bit. you can see the trail of showers and thunderstorms coming right over the i-95 corridor here. the strongest storms now up towards baltimore. actually tornado warning in

baltimore county just to the north of baltimore around the townsend area. but not for us. we did see small hail. we did see gusty winds and very heavy rain, but nothing severe. these will continue to move out. by about 8:00, i expect the entire area, at least our viewing area to be on the drier side of things. you can see what's been going on, this line of storms developing here and moving up to the north. tomorrow, more cloud cover. i think we'll see a pretty nice day tomorrow all in all. this evening, partly cloudy in most areas. storms only along that i-95 corridor. tomorrow, 67 degrees with clouds. sunday, 67, too, but with plenty of sunshine. sunday's the better day. monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, all looking great. look at that. highs in the mid-70s. not bad. this is the xfinity sports desk brought to you by xfinity, your home for the most live sports.

it's not often that we just had a conversation, she said, i've got breaking news. we've got breaking news. you've got breaking news? there it is. all right. now, go ahead, carol. >> i oversold it a little bit to you but i wanted to tell you something we just learned about. i love your reaction. the nfl has fined the skins $20,000 for failing to properly report his concussion. do you remember that hubbub? >> oh, yeah, he didn't -- >> they said he was shaken up, right? and they didn't tell us it was a concussion until after the game. >> $20,000? >> $20,000. that just came out. we've been getting a tease it was going to be a hefty fine at some point and that just came out. clearly he's fine, rg3 now. rg3, pete griffin gets rookie of the week, third time in six weeks. but the news not so encouraging for pierre garcon. didn't practice again today. the skins receiver is doubtful

for sunday. meantime, the burr gupdy and gold might be sporting a new punter this weekend. he hurt his knee this week. they worked guys out today. another version of redskins rewind coming at you right now. this pictures from last year's matchup. who could forget ryan kerrigan at fedex field. rex grossman right on the money with this touchdown pass to santana moss at the meadowlands. the skins, they had big blue's number last season. they were the only team in the league to sweep the eventual super bowl champs last year. the highlight of 2011, the players hang their hat on it now. >> no. it's all about what you've done for me lately. even if we were to play them week one, you have to show up each and every week and come out prepared. once you start believing that you beat them twice last year or early in the season, that's when you start losing games.

>> they're going to have a chip on their shoulders because we beat them. and we have a good record. >> it's in the back of my mind, but at the same time, this is a new year, a fresh start, a new team. we just want to move forward and be successful like they were. >> last year is last year. we didn't get to go to the super bowl like them and win it. our thing is, this is a whole new different team. to go in there and show who we are, and leave our mark. everybody knows what we're about. >> the skins, giants, kick off at 1:00 p.m. on sunday. baseball, the defending world series champs are giant killers. first the nats. now st. louis has san francisco on the brink. take a look at game four last night. mark maguire and the cardinals may look nervous, but they've been taking care of business, as we know. matt holliday takes the pitch. it drops. carpenter getting the green light. sanchez can't hold on. cards up 3-1.

bottom six, john jay will step to the plate, and two on for him. and two off now. a long double to center. and the two runs come in to score. st. louis goes on to win 8-3. up a commanding three games to one. game five tonight at busch stadium. >> all season i've been commending these guys for the fight that they have. and how they just don't go away. and that's part of their character. i think it's become just their nature. but we've got a long way to go. >> i think the leadership and the camaraderie we have has a lot to do with it. we had a lot of injuries this year and a lot of key figures from last year aren't a part of our team anymore. we found a way to get back to here. doreen's hoping cardinals win, right? >> right. >> the guys beat us. >> it's a 50/50 split, i think. some people are heart broken.

terrapins are looking to do something this weekend they haven't done since 1985. that's go 3-0 in the conference. nc state is coming to bird stadium, the terps homecoming weekend. maryland hoping they have a lot to celebrate soon. they're a couple of wins away from becoming bowl eligible. but it's far from the team's mind-set. >> it would be important to me. but to a certain extent i'm just taking every game, one game at a time, trying to get better each week. the goal is a bowl game. and all of us have that. but it's getting better each weekend. i look forward to it. if we get bowl eligible, i'm happy, but if we don't, continue to work hard. >> we have to continue to remember, how did we get to where we're at right now. and we got here because we've taken it one day at a time, taken it one meeting at a time, one practice at a time. and we've gone out and worked very, very hard. and that's what we've got to continue to do.

another big-time sporting event in college park, going on as we speak. number one versus number two in men's soccer. the top ranked terps facing unc. terps unbeaten this season, 12-0-1 record. right now scoreless late in the first half. we'll have the highlights at 11:00 tonight. a big weekend for d.c. united. tomorrow night, 7:30, rfk stadium. a huge matchup against the visiting columbus crew. with a win or a tie, united will clinch its first postseason since 2007. home field really is an advantage. the team is 11-1-4 at rfk this season. the crew need to win to stay alive in the play-off hunt. united is ready for that challenge. >> it's going to be a great game. i think it's going to be a typical eastern conference, get into the play-off type game. it's going to be nasty, it's

going to be fast, it's going to be furious. we're looking forward to it. >> we expect them to bring it 110%, being that they need a win. and they know that we need a tie or a win. they're going to come out guns blazing and we'll just tame that. and, you know, work the ball around it. and do what we need to do. >> hope they do enough to stay. >> would love to see them take them back to the play-offs. >> get you a front row seat for that. >> all right. >> you got it. still ahead, the high-tech piece of history that's heading to the smithsonian. [ minto ] you know, those ads saying mitt romney

would ban all abortions and contraception seemed a bit extreme. so i looked into it.

turns out, romney doesn't oppose contraception at all. in fact, he thinks abortion should be an option in cases of rape, incest, or to save a mother's life. this issue's important to me, but i'm more concerned about the debt our children will be left with. i voted for president obama last time, but we just can't afford four more years. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

it's hard to believe commercial satellite radio is already part of history. and a piece of that history is on display at the smithsonian now. they donated a satellite unit to the air and space museum. one of the first ever designed to provide a digital radio service to consumers. it's now on display at the museum's space hangar in chantilly. my boss, the woman who runs this station, she is one happy camper these days. she should be, she's a nice lady. but the biggest reason for the smiley faces on all her communiques is the fact that this is a presidential election year. and the two major parties are flush with cash. which means so are we. so is this station. so is every other station in this market. and throughout much of the country in fact. i, on the other hand, am not so happy. in fact, i am sick to death of all those campaign ads, and all

those people looking me straight in the camera in the eye, dripping with gravitas, telling me what i should think or do or not do or whatever. and here in the d.c. market, adding insult to injury are the questions. especially the gambling thing. a couple nights ago, one single commercial break, i had to endure two presidential campaign ads, three from senate candidates, and two back-to-back on question 7. the darn thing ran so long i forgot what i was watching. here's the problem. there is no more light in those things, only heat. actually, worse than heat. it's noise. discordant, unbearably annoying noise. it's my observation people who run campaigns tend to be pretty smart. mine is not the only gripe they've heard. but i have yet to hear a good reason why they do that. one guy i spoke to pointed out the critical need to reach the indecided voter. what undecided voter?

especially in this market? seriously, how many people do you know, people who really give a hoot and will probably vote, how many of them have not made up their mind on a candidate or one of the questions, and probably did it a long time ago? i don't know what the solution to this problem is, except maybe to deal with it like a bawling infant. every mother on the planet and even some of the fathers know the differences in a baby's cry. you know which one is because they're hungry, which one means they need a diaper change, which one is in some pain, and which one is the kid who's already learned how to manipulate you and get your attention. that's the one like all these ad nauseam ads that we have to learn to ignore. by the way, that thing about my boss smiley faces and all that, she doesn't do that. she's way too cool for that. and "nightly news" is coming up next. anncr: seven-hundred-thousand jobs.

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